Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

demolition? seriously? a friend of mine shared a facebook post pertaining to the possible demise of this largely intact 19th century residence, outfitted with early red slip terra cotta ornament (note the lion head rondel on the pediment) likely executed by thr northwestern terra cotta, will be demolished to make way for a 22-story high-rise.  i need to reshoot (the...

richard nickel images documenting the many patterns of plaster ornament used in adler and sullivan's schiller building or garrick theater (1893) interior auditorium and 14th floor banquet hall before, during, and after demolition in 1961. nickel, john vinci and david norris spent months in early 1961 salvaging plaster ornament while atlas wrecking was rattling the building with its workers torching/dropping...

i recently got wind that this 19th century chicago brick residence with intact bracketed cornice, double arch top window accentuated with fret-sawn panel, and single incised keystone was targeted for demolition. by the time i arrived late yesterday afternoon, it was wrapped in green fence and half-demolished. that was quick. dangerously quick.   sadly, the joliet limestone window hoods were...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 50,000 catalog listings to date). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their respective urban remains website categories.

louis h. sullivan-designed chicago stock exchange building (18930 door hardware, executed by the yale & towne mfg. co., stamford, ct. the ornamental cast iron hardware retains the original bower-barff finish, consisting of a magnetic iron oxide coating applied by exposure to superheated steam.  the hardware pictured, was designed for use with the building's office, passage, utility, and swinging doors. the...

i've waited a very long time - too long - to document adler & sullivan's wainwright building. studying the wainwright through through the eyes of hugh morrison, aaron siskind, richard nickel, and john szarkowski bolstered my interest and desire to see it for myself. with chicago architect john vinci by my side with camera and commentary, i was fortunate to...

Remembering the Garrick: An Evening with John Vinci Tuesday September 24, 2019 at 7:00pm Glessner House 1800 S. Prairie Avenue, Chicago $10 per person A partner program of the Chicago Architecture Biennial The Garrick Theater (originally known as the Schiller Building) looms large in Chicago history – both as a masterpiece of Adler & Sullivan and as one of the...

in november of 2017 i wrote a blog post about this two-story post-fire workers cottage likely built for valdemar mortonsen in 1876. the largely intact brick cottage with pine wood bracketed cornice features "artificial stone" window hoods with distinctive keystones accentuated with palmettes. i was alarmed when the house went up for sale, with the agent describing it as: "Super...

7 the following acquisitions (see images below), in the form of architectural building fragments, photographic images, and, miscellaneous ephemera, represent a fraction of historically important materials added to the bldg. 51 museum and its sister organization, with the latter focusing on architectural ornament and ephemera from the first chicago school (website for this archive will be launched in the summer...

building 51 is a privately funded organization dedicated to researching, documenting, and preserving chicago’s architectural history and legacy. prompted by the alarming rate of destruction of chicago’s 19th and early 20th century workers cottages, building 51 has incorporated and in the process of filing "chicago workers cottage association" or CWCA as a non-profit 501c3. the association is a task force...

an amazingly intact and well-maintained post-fire brick workers cottage with original fret-sawn bracketed pine wood cornice, oculus, and frear or ransom's artificial stone incised window hoods with centrally located ornamental keystones, will be destroyed in the next week. the address is 1938 n. mohawk street. the generously proportioned arch top two-over-two painted pine wood windows appear to be original. the...

one of two figural red slip-glazed terra cotta panels adorning fourth street school (1890). the richardonsian romanesque style school, now known as golda meir school, was built by architect -henry c. koch (perhaps best known for milwaukee's city hall building, completed in 1895).  the two matching panels flank a long and narrow terra cotta plaque with the words "public school...

an early 20th century two-story chicago fire house (vacated in 1964) with bedford limestone incised plaque and municipal device just below the roofline, is currently undergoing demolition. the long-abandoned fire house is located in the old union stockyards, near a dumpster distribution center.  heneghan wrecking was kind enough to allow me to document both the inside and outside shortly before...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 50,000 catalog listings to date). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their respective urban remains website categories.

as chicago's garrick theater (adler and sullivan, 1892) was dying a slow death in 1961, navy pier served as the makeshift graveyard for sullivan’s terra cotta and plaster ornament, where it was received, reassembled, documented, and crated for distribution to institutions across the country.  this is the largest group of images (i've seen thus far) reflecting richard nickel's effort to...

back-to-back demolition of 1880’s victorian era commercial building and adjoining residential boarding house comprised of brick accentuated with joilet limestone ornament ornament. the commercial building was especially difficult to see destroyed since it retained the original dearborn foundry “no. 2” cast iron and steel front configuration, with three-sided ornamental cast iron columns supporting a long horizontal beam with simple radial...

hermann v von holst's southside chicago comed substation (also known as the gaitan building, 1924) is still standing, but the degree of deterioration since the last time i visited at the beginning of 2018 is far worse than i expected. moisture penetration deeply embedded in exterior walls has caused the facade to buckle in some places. spalling of face brick...

i haven't seen many richard nickel images of first floor lobby, staircase, and office corridors in adler & sullivan's schiller building (1892) as they appeared shortly before demolition in 1961. seeing the damage from numerous alterations (e.g., littered with a neoclassical treatment despised by sullivan) from the time it was built, left me incredibly depressed. it's no surprise nickel spent...

exceptionally rare early 1930's northwestern terra cotta company portfolio (one of four volumes) consisting of 12 plates devoted to "modern style" terra cotta ornament. the majority of the plates feature designs from notable buildings in chicago (i've included a few examples).  while i'm thrilled that i finally acquired a volume from this set (i've been searching for several years), i...

harvard's memorial hall is an excellent example of 1870s high victorian gothic style, characterized by towers and turrets, corbelled and patterned brickwork, gargoyles, patterned shingles, mansard roofs, polychrome color schemes, and carved or pressed brick ornament.  the building - considered to be one of the most dramatic examples of high victorian gothic architecture in the country - was built to honor...